Posted on 01/22/2005 5:01:01 AM PST by DoctorZIn
Top News Story
World press electrified by Bush vision
"Hold on to your hats, this may be the most ambitious presidency ever." That's the message from one Israeli paper after President George W Bush's inauguration - a message echoed across the world's press.
For China's press his speech raises the question whether Washington will head further down a "unilateral" path in foreign relations.
One Polish paper heralds the speech as the dawn of a conservative revolution, while in Germany and Turkey there's a bleak forecast for the new Bush era.
At precisely the moment when critics claim he is stymied, Bush, in his second inaugural address, has just set out to liberate the entire world. And our region is at Ground Zero, so to speak, of his new, revolutionary vision... In laying down his revolutionary gauntlet, Bush must know that he will be derided as a hypocrite and a reckless dreamer. No American can be against the ideal of spreading democracy, but to stake national security on it, that's another matter. In front of the Capitol on Thursday, Bush called not merely for a remaking of other nations' foreign policy, but that of his United States. 'Hold on to your hats, this may be the most ambitious second-term - or any term - presidency ever'.
Israel's Jerusalem Post
Celebrations of Eid are given more prominence than the American president's speech
Arab media review
The democracy President Bush's administration is promising is a bloody one. It has, up to now, claimed the lives of 100,000 martyrs, with the same number being wounded. It has turned the country into a failed one, where chaos and booby-trapped cars prevail... As long as the US policies continue as they are at the moment, then all the American talk about democracy and liberties will remain ink on paper.
Pan-Arab Al-Quds Al-Arabi
Bush's speech focused on the 'power of freedom', saying that the best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world. On that, not many people will disagree. The differences are over what he understands by 'freedom' and how the benefits of democracy should be spread in the world - or indeed whether it is any country's business to export democracy to others... It is possible to have the freer world that Bush speaks of, but the idea that those who are strong and have a larger arsenal have an unchallenged right to impose their will on the weak, undermines democracy.
Kenya's Nation
Here is the president saying there are a lot of monsters over there, and unless we slay those monsters, we can't be free at home
David Gergen, CNN
Many challenges and knotty questions are waiting for him to solve... Whether to reverse the Iraqi situation will become the biggest test for Bush's second term of office... Even with the election proceeding smoothly, terrorist acts will not disappear... Various countries are expecting much of the new Bush term. Perhaps it is wishful thinking to see these expectations depend on whether Bush goes ahead with his unilateral road or is back to the multilateral road.
China's People's Daily
The main international issue to be faced during President Bush's second term in office will be an Iran war, the US' main attention will focus on West Asia. If the US can quite smoothly realize the goal of transforming Iran, then the US' main strategic direction will shift to East Asia in future, and China will face direct US pressure; if the US' war and political reform in Iraq is not smooth, then this shift will be delayed for a number of years.
Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po
The inauguration of President George W Bush for his second term was merry and fanciful whereas the United States is afraid of facing continued threats from terrorists and has concerns about the increasing number of its troops killed in Iraq... In his campaigns on the significance of the free world, Bush has deliberately grabbed the rights of the Iraqi people to live freely by sending his troops to invade and occupy Iraq and at the same time forcefully imposing US-style democracy in a foreign land.
Malaysia's Berita Harian
Make no mistake, Bush absolutely believes that America will not be safe and secure unless democracy takes root more broadly around the world, especially in the Middle East... Of course, Bush as a president cannot be compared in stature to his two mighty presidential forebears. He and those around him do such small-minded things that it detracts from the grandeur of his purpose, whether you regard that purpose as grand folly or grand mission... And we have the demeaning, disgusting innuendo constantly from the Bush administration that anyone who disagrees with their course, or opposes the severe restrictions on civil rights in the Patriot Act, is an appeaser, is disloyal, is un-American.
Sydney's The Australian
The United States will likely place the value of democracy and freedom as the basis for its diplomacy. That is also closely related to Washington's plan to "transform" the North Korean regime. Such a US doctrine and North Korea's possible reactions may escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula. We hope diplomatic principles will be applied wisely. During the first term of the Bush administration, South Korea-US relations have seen conflicts too serious to call the relationship an alliance. South Korea's dispatch of troops to Iraq mended the fissure significantly. During the next four years, the alliance must mature further.
South Korea's Chungang Ilbo
Bush's speech at his second inauguration and the theme of freedom in it is nothing new. Since 11 September this same freedom has been the main slogan of the war on terror the White House has declared... Bush's critics point out that in America itself there is now considerably less freedom. .. Who knows, perhaps Afghanistan really has become freer, and democracy may emerge in Iraq after the elections. But for the rest of the world the war on terror is turning increasingly into lack of freedom....
Russia's Vedomosti
Critics who were hoping that he would get mired in detail about Iraq were mistaken. Instead he went back to basics, reaching out to the belief of most Americans in the fundamental importance of freedom and using that to explain his policies at home and abroad. At times it sounded more like a sermon than a speech. Mr Bush may not be much of a speaker. But sometimes the message is more important than eloquence and what he had to say yesterday had the power of real conviction.
Ireland's Irish Independent
Things are now clearer than ever: We have the right to feel a chill down the spine. To describe Bush as a madman with a mission at the head of a state bristling with weapons does not really get us any further... and, although insulting, it is no longer even particularly original. And yet this US administration sends a chill down the spine of anyone unwilling to become accustomed to listening to this madness.
Germany's Die Tageszeitung
No-one should expect a weak president in spite of the fact that his immediate objectives were achieved in his first term as a world leader. The inauguration speech was again simple, concise and direct, as was the electoral message which gave him victory at the polls in November... For his enemies, there is a choice: liberty or oppression.
Spain's La Razon
In... George W Bush's inauguration speech, there seem not to have been any pithy sentences which will be engraved forever in our memories. There is the feeling of a man who treats the whole world as his parish.
Italy's La Repubblica
In a bid to be as determined as Franklin D. Roosevelt facing the Great Depression in 1933... and galvanize people like John F. Kennedy in 1961... the 43rd president of the United States opened up particularly ambitious prospects for the future which go well beyond the four years remaining to him in the White House.
France's Le Figaro
The question is how much he has learnt... and how much he has forgotten. Mr Bush will be the president of the USA for the next four years, and whatever he ruins, he will ruin it for us too. So it is worth keeping our fingers crossed for him, for mere selfishness if for no other reason.
Hungary's Nepszabadsag
The drawback of Bush's style is that he has never really racked his brains about how to convince somebody. Basically, he only explains reasons for his decisions. Why would he do anything else - he is right, is he not? He will hardly change in that respect, so we only have to hope that he is right as often as possible.
Czech Republic's Mlada fronta Dnes
An idealistic vision of the furtherance by America of freedom, democracy and human rights... Although in Bush's short inaugural speech words such as Iraq, Afghanistan or Ukraine were not used once, it is clear which countries he was referring to. He is planning such deep changes in internal policy that if they are carried through they will change America for good. He also spoke of these changes in his inaugural speech as being 'furtherance of freedom and justice'. If his plans are realised, then this will be a conservative revolution.
Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza
Under the label of a sick, religious-political doctrine they march against countries longing for their natural resources. Already, the United States is warning various countries by beginning the known method of repeated lies... The planet must be aware of this freedom the United States is talking about because it is leading to a one-way-road: to the 'freedom' of enslavement and submission to the United States.
Cyprus Kharavyi
As the strategy of toppling Saddam Hussein and 'democratising Iraq' has gradually turned into a nightmare scenario, the initiative of declaring new wars and attempts of widening the occupation increase the suspicions about Bush's second term... The government in Turkey should not fall into the trap of an attack against Iran. Possible demands for support must be refused in the parliament...
Turkey's Milliyet
A Daily Briefing of Major News Stories on Iran:
Important Announcement:
As most of you know, I host both this thread and a blog: regimechangeiran.com. For over a year and a half, each day, I have been posting all the major news on Iran. I have been posting the full text of these news stories into a single thread. This past summer I began the blog to highlight news stories and provide commentary. The amount of time required to post full text news articles to a new thread each day as well as news highlights on the blog as been extensive. So much so that I have not been able to spend much time providing news analysis.
After consulting with other successful bloggers I have decided to try a new format.
I have posted the news highlights to my blog and have provided links to the news items here at the start of each daily thread. This way you will quickly see all the major news stories at a glance and be able to read those stories that most interest you.
You can still post links or news stories to this thread, but it would be helpful if you would first check and see if I have already posted the story to my blog. I appreciate news links to stories I haven’t seen.
I also hope this format will permit more discussions of news items since your comments won’t be interspersed between news articles.
I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the change. Does it make it easier to find the news you are looking for? Does it encourage discussions of the news?
I would appreciate your feedback.
DoctorZin
PS My blog is hosted on blogspot and if you would like to post comments on a specific new item you may do it there, but I would recommend creating an account on blogspot.com as it permit me to know who you are. If you want to create an account on blogspot, please try to use your freeper name there as well, if possible.
"The crisis we are facing today does not require of us the kind of sacrifice that Martin Treptow and so many thousands of others were called upon to make. It does require, however, our best effort, and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds; to believe that together, with God's help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us. And, after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans.
God bless you, and thank you."
Ronald Reagan
1/21/81
A lot of those editorials were surprisingly positive and the ones that were not were not surprising.
I agree that HOW the message is put is just as important as the message it's self. BUT this is something we must try to do, as the world is a very small interconnected place and getting more so all the time. We simply cannot leave vast parts of the world mired in tyranny, as sooner or later it will impact(?) on us.
Now what shall we do? This message needs to be broadcast not just once in a while and by one person, but often..everday and by many(memo to the State Dept., Get with the program).
" F/'em, we're going in"!
The problem is (weather you and I like it or not) we need them, or at least a large number of them.
While I don't agree with your feelings on the Patriot Act, I do agree with these :
"we should give their concerns due weight.
Obviously the US cannot impose its will on the whole world"
"I think that what the US wants to do is honorable and necessary, but unless we can proceed w/ a proper and truthful modesty that bears witness to the community of nations (I know that's a corny phrase) the end result of all our actions could be terrible and disasterous, both to everyone else and to ourselves."
Thank you.
bravo!
DoctorZIn,
I think this format is pretty good. I usually visit regimechangeiran.com every day, but some days I just scroll through it when I'm short on time, looking for articles of interest. This would probably make it easier. You run a great blog, DoctorZIn! Thank you for all your hard work.
Now, about this concern that the United States might be imposing its will on the rest of the world.... I disagree. The revised Bush Doctrine is based on the [correct] premise that deep down, the vast majority of the inhabitants of this planet want freedom. So, we won't be necessarily forcing anything on other peoples. It may be perceived as such, but we're really just giving people want they really want. It is the dictators and their ilk who are against freedom for their people. Surely no one here will argue that people enjoy a lack of freedom.
If you want to talk about America forcing its will on the rest of the world, then it's World War II. We raised up a 10 million-man military to take the fight to maybe somewhere like a dozen or more countries on two continents on opposite sides of the world. What Bush proposes in less ambitious, but just as necessary to do. We're going to spread democracy around the world, not the American version of it. For instance, the Afghan constitution says that you must be a Muslim in order to run for president. That's most definitely not in the US constitution. We're not at war with other cultures. We have found through experience that democracy and freedom is the best way to go. True, the US was one of the first modern democracies. But that doesn't make freedom a distinctly American product. No more than money is strickly American or Western.
And I don't react favorably when people try to say that freedom is un-Islamic, and so it can't be done in Islamic countries. Look at Afghanistan's October 9th election last year. Turnout was about 70%. In Iraq next weekend, turnout is expected to be around 80%. I don't recall an American national election where turnout was that high! Freedom is for all peoples of all cultures and nationalities. We are all humans. We are have similar desires. Freedom is one of them. The United States was born out a desire for freedom. I submit to you that in the late 18th century, we wouldn't call Europe any more democratized than Saudi Arabia is today (although Saudi Arabia may today be more oppressive). Democracy isn't a thing that can only happen in the West. The United States perhaps discovered it first. 60 years ago, it was said that democracy would never take hold in the religious fanatic land of Japan. Today, Japan is a democracy and an economic powerhouse. 60 years ago, they (such as the New York Times) were saying almost the exact same things that the mainstream media says about Iraq today. It took five years to establish a government and have elections in Germany. Democracy has swept through Europe over the years, and continues to do so (such as the recent example of Ukraine, which will inaugurate their new leader tomorrow).
From the fires of World War II, the fire of democracy and freedom has been ignited, as Bush said on Thursday. It has been spreading throughout the world, thanks in large part, I believe, to modern technologies. Back then, it was the radio, TV, and rapid transportation around the world. Today, it is now the Internet.
The Internet is the ultimate conduit for free speech, freedom, and true democracy.
Iran Loans Cuba $26 Million
Turkish Press
Jan 22nd, 05
Iran is loaning cash-strapped Cuba $26 Million.
The loan is part of a bilateral cooperation agreement between the two countries covering key areas such as banking, farming and biotechnology.
Cuba's state-run newspaper Granma Friday reported details of the agreement.
The newspaper says Iran will offer Cuba assistance and equipment to help it fight the effects of a drought plaguing the eastern portion of the island.
In return, Havana will help Tehran build a biotechnology factory to produce hepatitis B vaccines and Cuban-engineered medicines to treat heart and kidney disease.
Iran's official news agency IRNA hailed Iranian-Cuban relations, and said the agreement paves the way for further joint economic cooperation between the two nations.
The United States has accused Iran of running a secret nuclear weapons program, and has recently tightened a long-standing economic embargo on Cuba.
Source: VOA News, Some information for this story provided by AFP and Reuters.
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=2490
Need people, -yes. But we can NOT allow foreign journalists to steer our foreign policy.
bump
Stakes are high in mission to bring democracy to Iran
By Sarah Sands
22/01/2005
Telegraph daily, UK
"So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation… America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom."
Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah of Iran, who was watching President George W Bush's speech on television at his hotel in London, noted the language. He was relieved that the phrase "regime change" was not used.
He believes that American military intervention in Iran would be wrong: "Iranians are not willing to buy freedom at any cost. They do not want the freedom of an American general marching in. It is a matter of national pride. We do not need an American soldier to save us."
Mr Pahlavi, 44, has been actively campaigning for secular democracy in Iran since September 11. He says that it is only the regime that stands between an educated, well-resourced country and the free world: "All the unemployment and poverty in Iran is a by-product of political asphyxia."
But Mr Pahlavi says that the rising against the regime must come from within. He looks to the Ukraine or Yugoslavia as a model and rejects comparisons with Iraq: "Iran has a different history, polity, totally different scenarios. Our society is more dynamic and capable. We don't need teachers from American universities to come and teach us about democracy."
What Mr Pahlavi wants from Europe and America is "support for the Iranian people. This means refusing to deal with the regime".
He is particularly opposed to any weapons for trade negotiations: "Other countries should take a principled position on the regime. They must not be seen to cut a deal, at the expense of the Iranian people." There has been little reporting of protests against the regime since the elections last year but Mr Pahlavi's adviser, who asked not to be named, claimed the frustration is at boiling point, particularly among students.
"President Khatami addressed a meeting recently and the students started chanting 'shame on you'. It was moving," he says.
The opposition in Iraq is fastening on the May presidential elections as the moment to force the collapse of the regime. Petitions are being compiled on the internet for a referendum. The opposition claims that the election will be hollow.
"Saddam had elections," says Mr Pahlavi. "Let's not be infatuated by elections." Will the Pentagon have the patience to wait for an internal uprising? A report this week by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker revealed that special forces are already on the ground in Iran.
Mr Pahlavi responds that America must anticipate scenarios but he again rebuffs any sort of intervention. He will not accept, for instance, an American bombing of nuclear installations in Iran to pave the way for a popular uprising. He says that this would immediately strengthen the position of the Mullahs. "It has to be the right mechanism," he says.
He agrees that the stakes are high. Iraq has little chance of becoming a stable country while Iran is supporting insurgency there. "Iran doesn't need to invade Iraq," says Mr Pahlavi. "It is already in there."
He is also clear about the purpose of Iranian Mullahs acquiring nuclear weapons: "It is to blackmail the rest of the world." He says the regime is acutely aware that it is exposed by the toppled tyrannies on its borders and is ready to lash out.
Is he pushing for a restoration of the monarchy as part of a new Iran? "My political mission is over the day that Iranians have the freedom to go to the polls," he says.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/22/wiran22.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/01/22/ixworld.html
bump
Havana will help Tehran build a biotechnology factory to produce hepatitis B vaccines and Cuban-engineered medicines to treat heart and kidney disease.
Translation: Havana will help the Revolutionary Guard with its bioweapons program to attack the Great Satan and the Little Satan.
Keep it up.
Actually if memory serves several nations that are earthquake prone sent rescue teams to help in finding survivors at Ground Zero.
Great thread.....BUMP
I like your new format very much.
And thanks for posting the 'World Press' comments on the Inaugural Address.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1326006/posts
UNRELIABLE SOURCES (Seymour Hersh)
the New Yorker's star investigative reporter, has made headlines with a new expose — this time claiming the United States is conducting super-secret reconnaissance missions in Iran as groundwork for destroying Iran's nuclear facilities and/or invading the country.
(snip)
Germany sent fire fighters to help
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